Back in 1999, while I was in the Navy, my boat, the Bataan, was doing its Med Cruise and one of the places we pulled in to was Tarragona, Spain. While there, a couple busloads of us had the chance to ride up to Madrid to the Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament.(Apparently it's closed, because I can't find a link to it.)It was a great experience, much better than the one that's here in Orlando (which itself is pretty good), not just because of the cosmopolitan audience which came from all over Europe, but because after the main show, we were then moved to a ball room where we were treated to an outstanding display of Spanish culture, including music and Flamenco dancing. I really liked the music then, but I never really thought about it that much until 11 years later. This past Saturday, while at the Downtown Disney Halloween party, my friend and I came across a guy who really made his guitar sing and dance.
His name was Nicholas Marks, and he had me and my friend entranced with his show. The music felt a lot like the music I had so enjoyed back in Spain, except it was even faster and had influences from other cultures. My partner identified Italian elements in a couple of his songs.Nicholas Marks didn't sing, but he didn't need to. His lightning-fast fingers, guitar trick showmanship, and darn-good music were all the entertainment I needed.
After his show, I bought one of his CDs to autograph and thanked him for the great show and for sparking the great memories of my visit to Spain. I've since been listening to the CD and checked out the Nicholas Marks website to see what else he's got on offer. It's pretty cool; he's met a lot of interesting people and has been performing for some time now. He's also got a couple other CDs, and I just wanted to let you guys know that if you've got a hankering for Spanish music with an Gypsy twist, Nicholas Marks has your medicine, in a delicious dosage.
I didn't get to take a whole lot of pictures while I was down in Orlando for the party, because we didn't get there until just before sundown, and by then there wasn't enough light to take pictures of much. It just so happens that a flash actually worsens pictures of open areas when it's dark out, as I discovered. I took a few pictures, but only a handful even came out enough for enhancement to do anything.
The place was so packed that the big restaurants had wait times exceeding an hour, so we saw a lot of people and a lot of really good costumes. Several different ninjas, a crayon, Raggety Ann and Andy, several fairies, Peter Pan, Mario and Luigi, some princesses, skeletons, ghosts, and a couple of stilt-walking jack-o-lanterns, and lots more. We found a smaller place to eat called Earl of Sandwich, where the wait to eat was a lot shorter, and I had what may have been the best turkey sandwich I've ever had. So T-Rex and Rainforest Cafe missed out on my business, but if they hadn't, I would've missed out on Nicholas Marks' performance, so I guess it evened out.All in all, it was a great party, and one I'll probably do again next year, but I'll have to tone down my costume because people kept giving me prizes for coolest dude, and for hottest babe on my arm. Hope to see you there!
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Just discovered that Nicholas Marks copied part of this article to his personal website. How awesome is that?!
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